Material for use in cement compositions



106. UUMPUSHIUNS, COATING R PLASH a I Patented Mai 11, \l} d a Q i Y f I ,7,... we f .6, W27 r 6,7 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE :it

I No Drawing.

f develop. 20 cement as used herein be taken to mean and include any cement, such as Portland i} 5 crete, plaster, stucco, etc.

RUDOLPH J'. WIG, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE CELITE COMPANY,

OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA,

A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

MATERIAL FOR USE IN CEMENT COMPOSITIONS.

My invention relates to a definite product for use in cement compositions or as an admixture to cement to develop certain de-. sirable physical characteristics. Such prod- 5 not, the methods of using such product, and

the results obtained thereby are described in the following specification.

This application is a continuation in part of my application filed May 26, 1925, Serial No. 33,043, for which this application is a substitute. c

The object of this invention is to provide a finely divided material obtained from diatomaceous earth, such material being added in small quantities to cement or cement compositlons to give greater workability and strength, and more homogeneous structure, than such cement might otherwise It is intended that the term cement ferro eneous cement or any y raulic cement use in com ma ion with or without other materials 1n the making of con- Furthermore, it ,9

is intended that the term plastic materials as used herein be construed throughout the specification to mean and include all such plastic materials as are made by the combination of any hydraulic cement, with sand 'ravel rock or other similar aggregate to produce concrete, plaster, stucco,etc. The particular examples cited in this specification will refer to the use of my product with Portland cement, sand, and rock, although the material finer than 0.001 mm. square.

my invention is not limited to such use.

The use of diatomaceous earth (otherwlse known as kiesel uhr itri oli ;-molar,- fossil eic.)

in cement or flour, infusoria ear 0 cement composit ons lias been known in a is primarily due to the variable results obtained, and the lack of actual knowledge as to the properties of diatomaceous earth used in such experimental work.

I have found-that the successful use of diatomaceous earth in cement compositions dependsupon the fineness or particle size of Application tiled March 20, 1926. Serial No. 96,304. i

' the diatomaceous earth, and on the quantities of this material which are used. I find that diatomaceous earth must be finely ground or disintegrated, and furthermore that such disintegration must fall within fairly well defined limits. My invention discloses and states the particular limits for the fineness to which the diatomaceous earth must be disintegrated.

No one, to my knowledge, has shown what best adapted to the purposes of my invention and the fact that the fineness of the if ultimate division of the particles (for example, composed entirely ofparticles less than, 0.001 mm. in size: does not give results RS w 112 eem avora 1e. A diatomaceous f earth product made in accordance with my invention should containnot more than 25% (byweight of the total amount) of particles having a greater average size than 0.02. mm,

These lumts may be vane o square. certain extent depending upon the methods used in determining the size of thej'pargrade or fineness of diatomaceous earth is a P diatomaceous earth reduced to a state of ticles, but atno time should more than approximately 3% be left on a 30 mesh screen. nor is it desirable to have more than 70% of ticles, both isotropic and anisotr0pic,whi ch 7 it would be reasonable to assume would pass or be retained (as tlie case may be) on a screen having such opening. When sedi mentation methods of determining particle size are used, I distinguish 0.02 mm. particles as those acting under Stokes law as'xspherical particles of approximately 0.02 in diameter.

The following particle size analyses rep-' resent fairly well the grades of diatomaceous earth which I have developed and found most effective for use in cement compositions:

Size of particles N o. 1 No. 2 No. 3

Per cent Per cent Per cent Greater than 20 microns 23 17 0 10 to 20 microns 10 7 7 5 to 10 microns 13 15 8 1 to 5 microns 34 21 15 Less than 1 micron 2O 40 duced to such fine state of division because of their structural strength and crystalline formation. My invention therefore consists in the production of a finely disintegrated diatomaceous earth product of certain definite particle size, such material giving results, in cement compositions, hitherto unattained.

The above specifications for disintegrated diatomaceous earth for use in cement compositions were developed after numerous experiments and practical applications, and although the theory underlying the particular effectiveness of the product is not entirely clear, it may be similar to that which underlies the classification of aggregates for concrete. I do not wish to limit myself to any theory, but rely primarily on the facts disclosed .during my investigation. For example, if appreciably more than 25% of the disintegrated diatomaceous earth is larger than 0.02 mm. square in size, the product is not uite as effective as a material falling within the above described limits. The reason for the above action may lie in the fact that diatomaceous earth alone has relativly no strength and the coarse articles do not act as a structural materia for example, sand; that is, they do not impart strength to the cement compositions. Similarly, a material containing more than approximately 70% of particles 0.001 mm. square and finer does not produce the workability in cement compositions which is characteristic of the compositions made with diatomaceous earth disintegrated to the extent specified by me.

A diatomaceous, product in accordance with the above specifications may be easily manufactured by disintegrating raw or natural diatomaceous earth by means of suitable apparatus and then classifying the disintegrated material to get a product of the required article size. This classification is most rea ily accomplished in air separating apparatus, or conical chambers, through 70 which the disintegrated material is carried by means of a vehicle such as air or gas. The heavier and consequently larger particles are left in such chambers, while the finer particles are carried on until finally they are removed in other suitable chambers. My invention pertains to the product made and not to the method of manufacture, how ever, and is not to be limited to the method orlapparatus used in such manufacture.

ve found that a very effective roduct may also be obtalned by cg [ginipp or heating the diatomaceous earth e1t ier e ore or a er disintegration, the latter process, that is, calcination after disintegration, or partial disintegration, being preferable. This calcination removes a certain amount of organic matter which may or may not be present (depending upon the purity of the diatomaceous earth in its natural state), and otherwise changes the physical characteristics of the material, but should not be carried to such extent as to affect the serviceability of such calcined diatomaceous earth for use in cement com ositions.

In using my specia ly prepared and classified diatomaceous earth product in cement compositions, I prefer to add to such composition from approximately 970 to about 10% of my product by weight of the cement with which it is to be used. For example, in a 1:2 :5 concrete I have found it desirable to use from approximately 2% to 6% of my disintegrated diatomaceous earth by weight of the Portland cement used to such concrete mixture. The effect of using such diatomaceous earth product in cement compositions, for example, Portland cement, seems to be the thickening of the vehicle (water) which carries the aggregate n and sand, thus tending to maintain the homogencity, plasticity and consequently the better working quality of the concrete as a whole. lVhen used in quantities not exceeding about 10%, the strength of the cement mixture is generally increased and the workability or the ease with which the con crete may be poured, rammed, or otherwise placed in position, is greatly enhanced inasmuch as the diatomaceous earth product appears to have a lubricating effect. There is less ett the a e rock pockets, or segregation of the agq'rcp'atwloes not occur, and the concrete ecomes more impervious by reason of the fact that the size of the voids is decreased; The reduction in size of voids gives a less abl oncrete which withstands the actlon of W very successfully.

The effect of using my disintegrated diatomaceous earth product in concrete may be seen from the following results:

1:3:6 concrete Crushing strength Percentage of diatomaeeous earth (28 days) i It will be seen that in the above tests'the maximum strength was developed with 1.7% of my product and it represented an increase of 10.6% in strength. The workability given under the third column shows an arbitrary figure which is representative of the ease with which the concrete can be rodded or placed, an increase in the ease with which concrete may be worked being shown by a reduction of the workability figure. Although the aboveresults indicate that 1.7% of my product develops greatest strength in the 123:6 concrete, cited as an example, the effect may be varied by the grade of Portland cement used, amount of water, size and fineness modulus of the aggregate, etc., so that I do not wish to be limited to any definite amount of my product in such concrete or in other concrete mixtures other than that such addition does not exceed about 10% on weight of the cement used. The addition pf my classified diatomaceous earth may be made either to the cement at its place ofmanufacture, or to the cement'immediately before or during its mixture with water, sand rock, and any or all other ingredients, preparatory to the use of such cement orcement composition on a job.

It is commonly accepted that-an increase in the amount of water used in mixing a cement composition, say 1:2:4 concrete, reduces the strength of the concrete. This, I

" have found, is not altogether true when a diatomaceous product such as I have described, is used. For example, a 1 2 4 concrete without my product was mixed using 9.68% .water on weight of aggregate and cement, and showed a workability of 386, and a flow (as determined in accordance with A. S. T. M. methods) of 90. The crushing strength in 28 days was 1885 lbs.

per square inch. When to another batch of the same concrete I added 2% by weight of cement of my diatomaceousl product, and used 10.01% water on weight of cement and aggre ate, the flow was only 80, but the worka ility was increased to 231, and the taining my product only enough water to E am ment compositions. When slump is used as a criterion of consistency of concrete it may be said that generally no additional water should be added to concrete mixtures containing my product, in excess of that required to give the same slump as that of plain concrete. 1

The relative ineifectiveness of using a disintegrated diatomaceous earth containing more than approximately by weight of particles 0.001 mm. square and finer may be seen rom the following rcsults by a 1:2:4 concrete using 2% of the diatomaceous earth on weight of Portland cement:

Disintegrated diatornacepus earth, average gggg g particle S116 figure Hess Per cent No admixture 109 100 20% smaller than 0.001 mm. square 97 175 60% smaller than 0.001 mm. square 1% 13B smaller than 0.001 mm. square 157 107 the preferred article'size on weight of Portland cement eing used in one and no diatomaceous earth in the other. After the columns were thoroughly set, they were carefully measured and it was found that the column in which my product was used had a volume of 5.3% greater than the plain cement.

These results have been checked on many structural operations with practically the same results, and show the benefit derived by] the use of my material, such benefit being negligible when the diatomaceous earth contains more than approximately 7 0% of particles smaller than 0.001 mm. square, and greatly reduced when the diatomaceous earth contains more than approximately 25% of particles greater than 0.02 mm. square.

that the following percentages of my prodnot generally give good results in the con-L crete mixes cited:

1:1 :,3 concrete1 3% by weight of cement content.

122:4 concrete-24% by weight of cement content.

1:2 :5 concrete-2'-6% by weight of cement content. p y

Actual structural concrete work has-shown:

1:3:6 concrete-3-8% by vveight of e ement content.

What I claim is 1. A diatomaceous earth product for use in plastic compositions containing not more than approximately by weight of particles larger than 0.02 mm. square and no morethan approximately 70% by weight of particles smaller than 0.001 mm. square in size.

2. A finely divided diatomaceous earth product for, use in cement compositions con taining not less than approximately 75% by weight of particles smaller than 0.02 mm. square in size. Y

3. As an admixture to cement compositions, a finely disintegrated diatomaceous earth product comprising not morethan approximately 3% by weight of particles left on.amesh screen, and no more than approximately by weight of particles smaller than 0.001 mm. square in size.

4. A plastic composition comprisin hydraulic cement, sand, an aggregate, and finely divided diatomaceous earth containing not less than approximately 7 by weight of particles smaller than 0.02 mm. square in size; the amount of the diatomaceous earth used being approximately from 1% to 10% by Weight of the cement used.

5. A plastic composition for the purpose specified comprising cement, sand, an aggregate, and a finely divided diatomaceous earth containing not more than approximately 25% by weight of particles about 0.02 mm.

specified comprising cement, a suitable aggregate, and a finely divided diatomaceous earth containing approximately of particles smaller than 0.02 mm. square in size.

8. A plastic composition comprising hydraulic cement; sand; an aggregate; a finely divided diatomaceou's product containing not more than approximately 25% of particles about 0.02 mm. square or larger in size, and

not more than approximately 75% by Weight of particles 0.02 mm. square or smaller in size; the amount of the diatomaccous product being approximately 1% to 10% by weight of the cement used; and water in such amount as to give the plastic composition a slump no greater than that of a plastic com position not containing the diatomaceo-us product.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I aflix my signature.

RUDOLPH J. Wis, 

